Motion Productions and Mike Folker Productions are teaming up with 10 bands to present a benefit show for the people of Haiti. All the money from the door and raffles will go to Doctors Without Borders. Friday, Ravari Room, music starts at 9pm. $5 suggested donation.

There will probably be more of these in the next couple of weeks. If you’ve got any info on others, post it in the comments. Band schedule and raffle prizes for Friday’s show after the jump. (more…)

Motion Productions is taking over Columbus. Well, invading it… for three days. To celebrate their two-year anniversary, they will be hosting shows this Friday and Saturday and next Friday (12/4) with the help of nine local bands. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, November 27th @ Ravari Room:
Sleepers Awake
Thrashers
Wing and Tusk
Phantods

Saturday, November 28th @ Ravari Room:
Bookmobile
Old Worlds
Pinkertones (Weezer cover band)

Friday, December 4th @ Skullys:
The Compressions (first Columbus show)
Mr. Fahrenheit and the Loverboys (Queen tribute band)

Two more good-looking posters after the jump (more…)

Pictured: CDR Company Picnic

Whatever…if money grew on trees I would be a money tree farmer. So I pretty much don’t have much of an opening rant so I’m going to take this opportunity to plug the gay little website that my gay little brother is part of. It’s called find Fred and it’s basically a gay eharmony/myspace/facebook/adultfriendfinder. Feel free to become a member and/or tell your friends because the sooner he starts getting money, the sooner he can start giving it to me. Also, my brother from another mother and his wife just opened up a baby boutique in Clintonville called Lottie Da so go buy stuff from them if you aren’t gonna try to find Fred.

Oh man i did some runnin’. I bet you can’t wait to hear about it. There was Dungen, Dude Locker Fest, The Entrance Band, CDRBQVI and Mr. Dibbs and a whole buncha crap happened or something. More crap crap crap after the jump jump jump! (more…)

MP3: The Dagger

The 38-year-old me wants to hop into the time machine and land back in ‘87 where the 16-year-old me is taking his first sip of Natty Light from an aluminum can in the back seat of Rob’s ‘75 Lincoln Continental. I want to slip a dubbed copy of Nebula’s latest release, Heavy Psych, into the tape player and watch how the spacey/stoner funk grooves completely blow our fucking minds and make us do even stupider shit than we would normally do on a boring summer night. (more…)

I dunno what you’re getting into this weekend that everybody’s working for, but this is what I’m looking forward to…

tombs just got done opening for Isis and Pelican. tombs are from Brooklyn. Everyone knows Brooklyn goes hard. tombs are playing at Ravari Room on Friday night with Columbus dudes Struck by Lighting.

Saturday is the annual Volatility fundraiser at Madlab featuring Hotel Eden, Deerhead, The Receiver and former Miranda Sound dudes, Bicentennial Bear. Also, a bunch of other stuff. Go and support your local arts community buy getting wasted on PBR.

Sunday Night at Ravari Room is the dual assault of Hydra Head dudes Harvey Milk and Torche. I saw Torche last time they were in town and they ripped my face off. I hope i still have one on Monday HAHAHA.

Complete Volatility schedule after the jump. (more…)

Crippled Black Phoenix/Ascent of Everest/Brainbow
Ravari Room
Saturday, April 4
$10

Six years ago, almost to the day, Chris Wood pulls off a major coup, booking Aereogramme at The Factory. Anybody remember that? It was an amazing show and the only time that the great Scottish band Aereogramme ever played in Columbus. Chris now book shows at the Ravari Room and has once again delivered a fantastic early April present to me (and the city of Columbus) – Crippled Black Phoenix. Unless you’re an Electric Wizard or Mogwai fan, you’re probably not too familiar with this band and that’s too bad. But you’ve got potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the band – 8 people strong – Saturday night. How they are all going to fit on the Ravari Room stage is worth the price of admission alone!

While the band likes to describe their music as “endtime ballads,” I think it sounds like Mogwai covering Pink Floyd for a movie soundtrack. Check it out for yourself:

MP3: Rise up and Fight

I interviewed Justin Greaves, singer/guitarist of Crippled Black Phoenix, earlier this week, the day before he (and band) were going to hop on a plane and fly halfway across the globe to play two weeks worth of dates in the U.S. Here’s a quick snippet from the interview: (more…)

I just got off the phone with Nick, owner of the High Five. He told me that he just signed the paperwork and has sold the bar. The new owners are three partners that include Skully (from Skullys) and Mike from Ravari Room. As far as Nick knows, it’s still going to be a rock and roll bar. I think the kitchen is going to reopen, too.

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the club, having booked the place for a period of time. The venue is at a great location, so hopefully the new partners can turn it into something better than it already was.

MP3: Go To Your Room by Sound of Urchin

For the uninitiated, the sound of Brooklyn’s Sound of Urchin is a bit hard to describe and always prone to evolution. Through their 2002 debut (major label) full-length You Are The Best and onto its 2005 (not major label) follow-up The Diamond, lead singer/drummer Tomato and his merry band of miscreants have seemingly fought to mash their influences and desires into something that rocks hard but finding cohesion has sometimes been difficult.

Their new release, Rejoice, builds on the progress they made on the second album, resulting in their most accomplished statement to date. While the proceeds never reach monotony, the quartet has honed a solid base of anthemic hard rock that is colored by some extended jams, some thrash-outs, and even some good ol’ fashioned cowbell. Tomato’s lyrics are just as whimsical as ever and rather idealistic for a dude that hates hippies, but you know, life is complicated. Some highlights include the pleading 808 jam “The Last From Me,” the gentle wake-up anthem “The Rooster Says Good Morning,” and the pleading “Don’t Walk Me Down That Road,” anchored by Doo Doo’s sturdy bass. “Disappointment Has Come Upon Me” features some twin guitar shredding courtesy of co-lead guitarists Reverend B-Ill and Seahag ala Thin Lizzy (their myspace page describes their sounds as a combination of Thin Lizzy and the Bee Gees, which I can’t argue with much). A few of the songs are a tad overdone, and I could really do without the last track, but the complaints are few and far between here.

Sound of Urchin is in the last week of their album launch tour and will be touching down Thursday night (today) at the Ravari Room. Your paid admission includes a copy of Rejoice, which is quite a benefit. The album doesn’t officially drop until 2008, so the boys want the jams in the hands of the fans pronto. Opening are their Columbus pals The Brown Notes and Dobbs, a new Columbus trio featuring ex-Salthorse drummer Chris Cox. If you need any more convincing, here’s a vintage SOU show review from yours truly.